


The Reigate Puzzle

by okapi



Series: The Were & the Nightwalker [4]
Category: Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, Alternate Universe - Werewolf, Case Fic, Colonel Hayter is a Necromancer, Jigsaw Puzzles, M/M, Story: The Adventure of the Reigate Squire, Vampire Sherlock, Werewolf John Watson
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-29
Updated: 2021-01-29
Packaged: 2021-03-15 12:14:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29064159
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/okapi/pseuds/okapi
Summary: Holmes gets a belated birthday gift from Colonel Hayter: a jigsaw puzzle.For National Puzzle Day!Based onMurder on the Nile: a Mystery Jigsaw Puzzleby Bepuzzled Classics
Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson
Series: The Were & the Nightwalker [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1633969
Comments: 10
Kudos: 14





	The Reigate Puzzle

**Author's Note:**

> This is based on the _Murder on the Nile: a Mystery Jigsaw Puzzle_ by Bepuzzled Classics, story by Bruce Whitehill and contains complete **SPOILERS** for that work.

“What’s that?” I asked, indicating a box in a nest of brown paper and string on the table.

Holmes looked up from the booklet he was reading. “Good evening, Watson. This is a belated birthday gift.”

“Birthday? Holmes!”

“Don’t upset yourself. You weren’t to know.”

“But somebody does! And they’re sending you gifts!”

Holmes chuckled. “Necromancers remember the oddest things. Colonel Hayter is a good sort, but I would not be surprised if I get a funeral wreath in April. And he’s heard of you.”

* * *

“I’ve heard of him! Colonel Hayter, a necromancer! I scarcely believe it!”

“He is, far and away, the jolliest of his ilk. The story,” he raised the booklet, “is for me. The jigsaw puzzle,” he nodded to the box, “is for you. You are to put together the puzzle during daylight hours. Hayter has placed an enchantment on it to ensure the box cannot be opened between dusk and dawn. You have three days. I am to review the scene, which contains the clues, and solve the mystery.”

“I truly love jigsaw puzzles, Holmes!”

“I think Hayter must know that. It is a charming gift.”

“Holmes! This is going to be more difficult than I thought.”

“Oh?”

“I’ve managed the outside borders, but there isn’t any kind of picture or guide to show you what the finished product is supposed to be, and it is a thousand pieces!”

“The mystery takes place on a steamboat on the Nile in Egypt if that is any help.”

“Ah. I thought a train based on the windows. A kind of common room?”

“Yes, a trophy room, too. See all the antique weaponry on display over the windows. Ornate knives and daggers. An early bow and arrow.”

“Look, Holmes.”

Holmes took up a magnifying lens. “Blood on the tip of the arrow. Good work, Watson.”

“Thank you. I’ve set aside all these of a floral pattern but dashed if I can get them to fit.”

“I believe in you, Watson, but perhaps you should get some rest. Restore your energies and tackle it anew in the morning when the light is better.”

“There’s sense in that. One more hour?”

Holmes smiled and took up his violin. “I shall play an appropriate musical accompaniment.”

It was two hours, of course, before I reluctantly tore myself away from the table and headed for the stairs.

* * *

“All right, Holmes. I am ready to hear about the victim. Here she is.”

“Lady Nancy Stuart. She is widow of the late Baron Stuart Stuart of Reigate.”

“Is Colonel Hayter using this story as an opportunity to vent his grievances against his neighbours? His place is in Reigate.”

“I don’t know, but I wouldn’t be surprised. In that case, it may have been as much of a gift for him to plot the murder as it is for us to solve it.” 

“Go on. Tell me about this lady. She’s in a white dress on her back on the floor of the stateroom. There is a tiny trickle of blood at the left breast. Far too small a wound for a gun but not too small for an arrow.”

“Ah, our find of yesterday has significance.”

“But, Holmes, this seems far too narrow a space for archery. And no broken glass.”

“True, but the bow need not be involved. An arrow can be an effective spear.”

“Hmm. You were going to tell me about the lady.”

“Let’s see. The victim, Lady Nancy, was a miser. When her husband died, she got rid of most of the servants and gave the housekeeping, maidservant, and chambermaid duties to her lady’s maid, Sabrina Brent.”

“Ah, that name I already know. It is on the tag of this floral carpet bag. It reads ‘Sabrina Brent. Cataract Hotel/Steamboat Karnak. Aswan.’”

“Yes, Lady Nancy arranged for her household to take a river tour of the Nile. It was a celebration of her birthday. Miss Brent was among the party. Previously, Miss Brent had been charged with arranging for a famous detective to visit the Stuart residence in Reigate to investigate the disappearance of some sterling silver cutlery, but as said detective was too busy with other matters, the thefts remained unsolved.”

I hummed. “Who else was among the birthday party?”

“Alison Stuart and Helen Stuart, Lady Nancy’s daughters, were there as was Susan David, the late Baron’s nurse, who had been tasked with all the household duties that Miss Brent could not perform after the baron’s death. Lady Nancy brought her doctor, Kobie Alexander along. That might have been unusual, but the lady was a known hypochondriac and was constantly seeking the doctor’s attention. The only genuine ailment from which she suffered were frequent bouts of hiccups. Her solicitor, Donald Braithwaite, was there, too. There was also her daughter-in-law, June Stuart, who was her late son’s widow as well as the Stuart girls’ former governess, Leticia Spellings, who also lived at Stuart House as a provision of the late Baron’s will.”

“Goodness! An ensemble.”

“Yes.”

“What is this in the corner, Holmes?” A paperweight?”

“No, it is a rock. The boat made a stop at Luxor, and the group toured the temple. As the group was wandering about the ruins, each at their own pace, there was a loud cry. Lady Nancy was found lying on the ground, a foot away this rock. It was assumed that the rock had broken off and fallen. But assumptions are dangerous things.”

Holmes bent over the corner of the puzzle with his magnifying lens in hand. “No, Watson, this rock, if the puzzle gives an accurate representation, did not break. The markings are all wrong for that. It was found and thrown.”

“A first attempt on Lady Nancy’s life?”

“Yes. She was unharmed by the rock, save for a long bout of hiccups which the fright gave her. Would like to hear about the next, successful attempt?”

“Yes. As I finished the lady herself in the puzzle, I think I’m entitled.”

“She was found by her daughter the following evening, just like that. No one heard any kind of gunshot.”

I hummed. “I still have a good third of this to finish. I suppose that’s all I’m due.”

“I suspect once you figure out how all of these,” Holmes pointed to the columns of pieces disconnected from each other and the border, “fit, the rest will come.”

“I am determined to greet you with a complete picture tomorrow evening.”

“I have every confidence you will.”

* * *

“Look, Holmes!”

I ran my hands over the entire surface of the puzzle, enjoying the texture of the bumps and the satisfying sight of all the pieces properly interlocked.

“Oh, well done, Watson!” Holmes clapped me on the back.

“I don’t think I moved from this spot all day, but it was worth it. It is nice to wholly absorbed in something.”

“It is also nice, every once in a while, to face a puzzle for which there is a guaranteed solution. We shall get to the bottom of this one forthwith!”

“Now, Holmes, tell me this: how was the inheritance situation among all those present after Lady Nancy’s death?”

“Good question. The late Baron’s will provided a handsome fortune for his daughters on their twenty-first birthdays. June Stuart likewise had been provided for, though on a less generous scale. According to Lady Nancy’s will, the property was to be divided among her daughters, but the wealth split among the others who were living at Stuart House: Miss Brent, Miss David, and Miss Spelling.”

“Ah!” 

“Yes, what do you notice here, Watson?” He pointed to the area around the body.

“Nice furniture. Nice glass. An impressive drinks cabinet. Three-legged stools. Mirrors. Everything polished and sparkling.”

“And no signs of a struggle.”

“That is curious. Now, why would a lady lie down on the floor and allow someone to stab her with an arrow?”

“What if that lady had a bad case of hiccups and was convinced by her most trusted servant to lie flat and close her eyes as a cure for those hiccups?”

“Oh, Holmes!” I shook my head ruefully. “You always make it sound so simple. Well, I know why. Miss Brent got tired of being the maid of all work and decided to help herself to the silver. There is a silver candlestick sticking out of her bag there.”

“Precisely. And she only pretended to contact the famous detective, knowing that if he ever arrived, she would be found out at once. I have every confidence in my solution, but the good colonel has provided a key. If you would be so kind as to fetch your shaving mirror.”

My eyebrows rose, but I did as bid.

Holmes held the last page of the booklet up to the mirror, and the words magically rearranged themselves. I read over Holmes’s shoulder.

“It’s just as you said, Holmes.”

When we’d finished reading, the words dissolved into a familiar wheezy laugh.

_“Many returns of the day, you ol’ flea hound! Come and see me sometime and bring Watson! We’ll breathe some life into these fossils round here!”_

Holmes and I laughed.

I looked at the table. “It’s a pretty puzzle, Holmes.”

“Yes, indeed. I shall pen our thanks to Colonel Hayter at once.”

“What do you think about paying him a visit?”

“It has its appeal. A necromantic estate would be the one of the few places a nightwalker and a _were_ might roam together without constraint or comment. Who knows? Maybe he will have another puzzle for us.”

“I hope so. This one was jolly good fun.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Celebrate the day by doing your favourite kind of puzzle! If you'd like to see what the puzzle looks like, check out [my Dreamwidth post](https://stonepicnicking-okapi.dreamwidth.org/146032.html).


End file.
